Learn All About How to Dine at Restaurants in Italy

Find out about the etiquette and experience of having dinner at Italian restaurants in Italy.

This is a typical dish at an Italian restaurant in Italy. Photo by Francesca Di Meglio

Americans are usually befuddled by Italian restaurants in Italy. The experience is nothing like the one back in the United States. Obviously, nine times out of 10 the food is much better in Italy. But it’s much more than a difference in cuisine.

Learn about what you can expect when having lunch or dinner at a restaurant in Italy:

Pasta is never a side dish.

In the United States, you often get a side of pasta with something like chicken parm. In Italy, pasta is a first course meal and is not served on a plate with meats or fish. There may be sauces made with meat or fish that top the pasta. But you will never see whole pieces of meat on top of your pasta dish. That’s right. If you order spaghetti and meatballs, you will get a first course of spaghetti and when you’re done with that, the waiter will bring you a second course of meatballs.

Some food you think is Italian is not.

You’ve already learned that spaghetti and meatballs in the way Americans serve them is not an Italian dish. But there are others that don’t exist. People often…